


Now You're Speaking My Language

by PandaPaladin



Category: Supergirl (TV 2015)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, F/F, Fluff, Lena Luthor Knows Kara Danvers Is Supergirl, One Shot, Supercousins Shenanigans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-16
Updated: 2019-08-16
Packaged: 2020-09-02 01:34:37
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,073
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20267866
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/PandaPaladin/pseuds/PandaPaladin
Summary: Lena, wanting to surprise her best friend, learns Kryptonian to make Kara feel at home.During a night out with Kara and her cousin, Lena overhears them speaking in Kryptonian— about how much Kara liked her.





	Now You're Speaking My Language

**Author's Note:**

> It is currently 2 AM but I love this ship too much to care. The Kryptonian words are from kryptonian.info! They also refer to the language's writing as Kryptonese but some people say it's the language in general, but then after lurking the internet people interchange it between the two and I WENT WITH WHAT I HAD OKAY IM SORRY AKDHAK
> 
> If you have any supercorp requests, please don’t be afraid to ask me!! Just pop one in the comments or my tumblr @cosmiccaptain (or comment in general because u know what they say about writers and feedback).

Let it be known that Lena Luthor did not take kindly to being left out of the loop. 

After the whole Supergirl-Kara fiasco happened nearly a year ago, Lena had healed from its scars and started over with her best friend. In fact, it was possible that their friendship was strengthened even more by knowing Kara’s deepest secret. The two of them were more trusting with each other. So much, actually, that Kara invited her out to drinks with her cousin from Metropolis. 

Superman, or Kal, as Kara had introduced him to her, was visibly suspicious when they first met. A couple of beers later, both the man and girl of steel were cheerful as ever. Kal had thumped Lena on the back, calling her the most brilliant woman he’s ever met and wished her the best with her company’s direction.

  
But then Kal scooted closer to his cousin. He tapped Kara and spoke to her in a low voice, though loud enough that Lena could still hear over the thumping of the speakers close to her ears. 

  
It wasn’t English, she knew that much. It was a language, spoken softly but with the bite of a soviet tongue. It was a mess of staccatos and accents, slurred slightly by the speaker’s drunken state. Kryptonian. 

  
Kara laughed merrily with her cousin, nearly throwing her head back in the process. She said something back, and though Lena didn’t understand it, she knew her response was short and witty. It caused Kal to make a face, which made Kara laugh even harder. 

She didn’t understand a single word they said. Not that it bothered her, don’t get her wrong. It’s just that the way Kara’s face split into a smile the moment she realized Kal was speaking her native language was so… exhilarating. Like she finally took off the final mask she held up to the world and tossed it the other direction to talk rapidly and without a pause to breathe to speak it right back at her cousin.

Lena understood her excitement. She was Irish and whenever she had the chance to express it, it was a breeze that swept her off her feet, sometimes quite literally, if it was a request to jig. 

Wishing not to interfere with Kara and Kal’s bonding, she took more sips of her drink and quietly watched other patrons and tipsy adults shout their excitement over a televised sports game. However, no matter how hard Lena tried, she could still hear their conversation, a mixture of incredulous shouts and sudden hushed tones and amused lilts. Kryptonian was a beautiful language to listen to, she had to admit. 

When Kara took her home and apologized about making her a “cousin third-wheel” and made promises about a much better lunch date, Lena only gave her a small smile. 

“I’ll look forward to it then, Kara Zor-El,” she said genuinely.

Kara’s smile was more intoxicating than bathing in the summer sun.

* * *

Two days after getting drinks with Kara’s cousin, Lena found herself in front of Winn’s apartment. She buzzed herself in, much to the shock of the elderly man on the main floor, and made her way to Winn. She knocked gently as to not bother the sleeping neighbors, taking a step back from the door. 

  
Winn opened his door with a comb still threaded through his hair. When his eyes adjusted to the low light of the hallway, he looked startled to see her. “Lena!” he said, his voice nearly a squeak. “Lena, what are you doing here?”

  
“Can I come inside?” she asked, squeezing the handle of her bag in her hands. 

  
“I— I guess?” he said, a bit dumbfounded. Realizing he made no move to usher her inside, he quickly stepped aside. Lena went in gratefully, thanking him for the short notice. “What happened? Why are you here? _ How _did you get here?”

  
“It’s not that hard to find where you live, Winn,” Lena clarified. She glanced around his messy apartment and pivoted on her heel to look at him. He had his arms crossed, his comb in one hand and looking very, very confused. “I need your help.”

  
“At—” He checked his watch, shoving his tongue along the inside of his cheek. “At two in the morning? What, you can’t find some other techy guy to bother you with your server problems again?”

  
Lena smiled at him. “We both know that neither of us think two in the morning is late.” She pointed at the comb in his hand. She guessed that he was getting ready to go out somewhere, maybe to catch a movie or a date. Either way, Winn only sighed, shoulders slumping.

He made his way to his fridge and go out a can of soda, holding one out in the air as a silent question, to which Lena politely declined in exchange for water. He tossed her a water bottle and Lena put her bag on a nearby counter, back pressed against it while she took sips of water. Across from her, Winn was watching her with an inscrutable look. 

“L-Corp? DEO? Dating problems?” Winn guessed from the top of his head.

  
“None of the above,” Lena said. She capped her water bottle and put it down. “I need you to teach me Kryptonian.”

Winn coughed out his soda, wiping at his mouth. His eyes were wide as he said, “Kryptonian? Like Superman-Kryptonian? Supergirl-Kryptonian?”

“Is there a different Kryptonian I should be aware of?”

  
“No.” Winn thought about it. “I think so, at least. Why do you need to know Kryptonian? And also, why _ me_?”

  
“Because you’re the only other person I know that speaks Kryptonian,” Lena said matter-of-factly. She purposely avoided his first question. 

  
Winn gave her a questionable look. “You and Kara are good, right?” he asked, a bit hesitant.

  
“Of course we are.” Now Lena was the confused one. “Why wouldn’t we be?”

“Well, because when _ I _think Kryptonian, I think Kara. Or Superman. One of those two,” he said quickly, setting down his drink on the counter beside him, “I don’t think I would ever qualify as an afterthought even.”

Lena’s lips were pressed into a thin line while she thought of a good answer. Because if she was being honest with herself, she didn’t really know either. Instead, she settled on saying, “I want to surprise Kara.” It wasn’t even a lie to begin with. She really did want to surprise her best friend— after all, she only had two people to speak Kryptonian with and both Winn and Superman were almost always too busy to sit down and have a good chat with her. 

“Don’t you think it would be even nicer if you asked her to teach you?” Winn asked. “I mean, I get the surprise part. But I think Kara would be pretty touched if you ask her instead.”

  
Lena had thought about that too. “She’s too busy with CatCo and being Supergirl as it is. I don’t want to burden her with teaching me something in her pastime when it’s already tight.”

  
“Well, clearly you have your priorities,” Winn said in exasperation. He moved back to the fridge and kept talking. “I’m busy too, you know! You don’t work for the DEO and expect—”

  
“I own a business and I also work for the DEO,” Lena reminded him. She crossed her arms. “Plus, you had enough time to read five hundred different comic book issues and learn Kryptonian _ and _how to stylize it into text format for Kara.”

  
Winn huffed, unsticking his head from the fridge to reveal a block of cheese in his hands. “Okay! Jeez. You’re bossier than Kara.” He looked over at her and squinted. “Just so you know, Kryptonian is really hard to learn. It took me months to learn it and I practically speak seventy different languages. Eh, code, mostly.”

Lena only arched an eyebrow. “You think that’s going to scare me, Winn?”

“Not scare you, but you know,” he clarified, waving his hand around for a word, “discourage you? I don’t know. I only learned how to speak Kryptonian because of the DEO— and also because I had a really weird infatuation with Kara. People like to quit when it’s only a down time thing.”

  
“Luthors don’t quit things halfway,” Lena told him. “And it’s not just a pastime for me, trust me.”

“So, why are you doing it then?”

A thousand different reasons flitted through her head, reasons that had plagued her for the last forty-eight hours. _ You don’t alienate people important to you. I want to hear her ramble in Kryptonian. I want Kara to smile when she hears me speak Kryptonian. I want Kara to feel at home with me as much as I feel it with her. _

Instead, she lifted her chin and said, “Kara’s important to me.”

* * *

For the next four days, Winn had loaded her up with several ways to learn Kryptonian. He gave her his dictionary for basic Kryptonian words, gave her a chart explaining Kryptonese and Kryptonian, and explained to her basic grammar rules and additional consonants that came with the language. 

In twelve hours following the day Winn gave her his dictionary and warned her about not being too discouraged with memorizing, Lena memorized the entire book. 

She met up with Winn for a coffee break. Winn sat across from her, a finger on a page of his makeshift Kryptonian guide. Lena drummed her fingers along the table.

“What’s the word for grandfather?”

  
Lena tried not to smirk. _ “Khehthgr.” _

Winn smiled at her and dove back to his book. He turned a couple pages. “Dwelling. Or house, whichever works for you.”

_ “Rurrelahs.” _

“Oath.”

_ “Vrreiahv.” _

Winn narrowed his eyes over at her. “Race.”

She bit her lower lip in thought. Before Winn could skip it for her, she said, “_Lor _ for running. _ Ushehd _ for an ethnic group.”

“You’re cheating!” Winn said accusingly, sitting up from his comfortable position. A couple of people turned to look at them, but their attention was quickly seized. His dictionary sat closed on the table in front of them, their coffees still steaming hot.

“What makes you think I’m cheating?” she asked genuinely, though a hint of teasing was evident in her tone. She propped her elbows on the table and rested her chin on her clasped hands. 

He looked at her, bewilderment in every fiber of his face. “Lena, did you memorize my dictionary _ already_?”

She shrugged almost teasingly. “Was I not supposed to?”

Winn slumped back in his seat, clearly disgruntled by her news. He picked up his coffee and blew on its lid. Around them, people bustled around and went about their day. National City was full of life, sometimes too much that it overwhelmed Lena. She wondered briefly if Kara ever got overwhelmed herself. She felt sorry for her super-hearing friend and indulged herself in thinking about bringing something later to make Kara happy.

  
When she snapped back to reality after hearing a quick apology from the person who accidentally bumped into her seat, she was face to face with Winn’s amused grin.

“What?” 

“You’re thinking about Kara,” he said frankly.

  
“I’m learning Kryptonian for her. Of course I’m thinking about her,” Lena answered with a snort. 

  
Winn hummed and sat back casually in his seat. “I don’t know. I wouldn’t learn a whole new language just to make my best friend smile.” The implication in his tone was evident.

  
Lena automatically took a defensive act. “You did it for her. You even coded it.”

  
“And _ I _was in love with her,” he declared, eyebrows pumping upwards in victory. “You know, you’re not exactly subtle when it comes to romantic gestures, Lena.”

“It’s not romantic,” she said weakly. “I just don’t want her feeling like she can’t be that open with me.” Again, it was the truth. Almost guiltily, she looked down at her coffee and sloshed the cup around. “I talk to her about my problems a lot. She tells me things too, but sometimes I feel like she’s holding it back from me,” she said, much more quietly than before.

Winn’s teasing grin became smaller. He leaned in closer to her and gave her hand, the one that laid uselessly on the table, a gentle squeeze. “Hey,” he said gently, his tone more sincere, “Kara’s just built like that. We both know it. I mean, what other girl do you know who has a civilian job protecting the innocent and an alter ego doing the same thing?”

  
“I know,” she said with a low groan. She was melting off her seat in frustration. “But I’ve been in her shoes before— well, a little bit. Mother hated it whenever I slipped my accent. I had this maid once, only for a couple of months, but she… made me feel like _ home_. She was Irish. I felt like I could tell her anything. I know it’s silly, because now I can complain to all of you about anything but…” She chuckled lowly. 

“I guess that’s why we have a phrase about speaking someone’s language,” she settled on saying.

  
The realization unfolded on Winn’s face. “You’re learning Kryptonian to help Kara open up.” Then, his face split into a grin. “What were you telling me about this not being even a little bit romantic?”

  
“Winn, _ shut up_.”

  
“Let the person who has truth speak,” he said simply.

  
Lena quirked her eyebrow. “Kryptonian proverb?”

  
“What!” He threw his arms up in frustration. “I didn’t even _ teach _you that!”

* * *

By the third week, Lena was completely fluent in Kryptonian. 

Winn and Lena met every other day to help her with her pronunciation and spelling, and soon Lena could confidently say she was better than Winn. As a thank you, Lena bought him a sleek new car that purred satisfyingly when gunning the engine. They spent so much time together and in private that some of their friends were beginning to think that they were a thing (Lena had never shot down a rumor so fast in her life).

She reviewed the second volume of Winn’s dictionary everyday after work, sheltered by the warm glow of the lamp beside her bed. When she woke up in the morning, she tested her knowledge by running a self-made randomized quiz on formatting Kryptonian words and using proper grammar. 

During their last meeting, Winn had set aside his jealousy (“It took me months, Lena! _ Months_!”) and told her that he was extremely certain that she spoke like a native Kryptonian. She had her doubts to believe that wasn’t true and they bickered about it until Brainy stepped in and regarded Lena with a look.

_ “What’s wrong? Did Winn take your screwdriver again?” _he asked, his voice ever-so calm.

It took Lena exactly 2.5 seconds to realize that he wasn’t speaking in English. It was Kryptonian and she understood it without racking her brain for a good translation.

_“No, I’m telling him that I don’t sound natural when I speak Kryptonian,” _Lena said back, in her best Kryptonian. 

Brainy’s face didn’t change. However, he tilted his head and told her, “You sound exactly like native Kryptonian from Krypton. 99.8% native actually. Sometimes Kara doesn’t even sound that natural.”

  
“What?” she asked, blinking in surprise. Kara?

  
Brainy shrugged and clasped his hands. “She’s lived on Earth for years. Furthermore, she doesn’t exactly practice her articulation on a day to day basis because less than a slice of the population speaks it.”

Winn looked down at his shoes, a bit ashamed. 

Almost as if she was summoned, Supergirl joined their conversation, her hands on her hips and a naïve smile on her face. “What are we talking about?”

“Oh, Lena Luthor was—” Brainy began.

“Was about to ask you if you were available for dinner soon?” Lena asked sweetly. At this, Winnn and Brainy glanced at each other.

  
Kara gave her a dazzling smile. “When are you thinking?”

Lena’s kneecaps felt like they were going to buckle under Kara’s gentle gaze. “Any time you’re free, of course,” she said easily, surprised at herself for not stuttering a single word. “I always have time for you.”

  
Kara laughed. “I was going to say the same thing with you.”

  
Before Lena could make a fool of herself and say something, Kara’s entire body flinched. She put a hand over her ear and her face became stern. Right, the earpiece. She said something quickly to the ground and looked at Lena with an apologetic look. “Text me the time and date?” she asked. “Duty calls.”

  
“Duty calls,” Lena repeated with a gracious smile.

  
Relieved at Lena’s expression, Kara flashed her another smile and rocketed off out of the DEO.

Winn and Brainy were by her side in a second. Winn whistled lowly and then bumped Lena with his shoulder. “I really thought you were going to propose to her in Kryptonian right then and there.”

The tips of Lena’s ears went red, because in all honesty, she knew it was something she’d do, in a very distant alternate universe, where Kara Zor-El feels the same gelatine knees she does. Curse the Supers for having steel knees. 

* * *

She called Kara that night. She explained that she was too tired to use her uncoordinated fingers to text, and Kara was all too happy to suggest they spoke on the phone instead. 

(She wasn’t that tired.)

They settled for next Friday, at seven p.m. for a reservation at Il Palazzo. Kara told her she barely had the money to pay for all the food she eats at home and suggested a less classy restaurant, but Lena insisted she paid for everything. “As a thank you,” she told Kara. “For being my best friend.”

She knew the brief silence over the phone meant Kara was smiling.

  
It made her heart jump in her chest knowing she had the power to make her smile. It was an incredible feeling. A feeling that made her feel super, but she was never going to tell Kara that.

“Oh!” Kara suddenly shouted. It sounded like she sat up. “Lena, I’m so sorry! I forgot to tell you— because I honestly really forgot. Kal is coming to National City on Friday.”

  
“Didn’t he come visit you last month?” she asked in confusion. Even though he had super speed and could travel to National City from Metropolis in less than five minutes, he wasn’t keen on visiting Kara that often.

“Yeah, yeah! And we had a blast. He just has an assignment here about, well, you actually. L-Corp.” There was a pause. “He really liked meeting you. He told me he was wrong about doubting you.”

  
“I have reasons not to believe that,” she said with a snort. 

  
“Lena, I know you think he’s gonna hate you forever because of— of what happened to him,” Kara said hesitantly. Lena smiled to herself when she realized that Kara was avoiding her brother’s name. “But I told him how amazing you are. What your company has done for everyone. What _ you _ did. How you saved me so many times that I _ literally _ cannot remember the numbers.”  
  
Lena and Kara laughed over the phone together. She rested her head over the lip of her couch, staring up at the ceiling. She gulped, trying to think of something to say. Kara beat her to it. “How about we take Kal with us to Il Palazzo? He can interview you there and I can be there as a buffer.”

  
“I don’t need you protecting me from your cousin,” Lena told her with another chuckle. She adjusted her head.

“Why not? Everyone knows Supergirl is stronger than Superman,” Kara said proudly. When Lena only chuckled, she added, “Plus, I want to spend time with you. I’m not letting my cousin get in between of that.”

Now it was Lena’s turn to be quiet, to smile to herself in her empty apartment. 

  
“Sounds like a plan.” 

For some reason, Lena wanted to blurt out to her friend that Kryptonian had several words for love, depending on its context, much like ancient Greek. Realizing what she thought, Lena buried her face in her hands.

* * *

Friday night came sluggishly by. She picked out her outfit days beforehand, a sleek black dress that matched her purse and brought out her eyes. Under certain lights, it had the illusion of looking like mahogany. Kara commented that her dress was just like her hair and smiled gently at her, eyes never leaving her face. 

For the first couple of minutes, Lena and Kara were alone. They were given complimentary champagne and two menus, though Lena asked for a third. At her request, their waiter scampered off with a confused look. It was probably because they looked like they were on a date. Not that Lena was thinking that too or anything.

They talked about the stresses of work. How reporting could get tiring after the fifth or sixth event. How upholding two companies did not look as easy as Lena made it out to be.

Kal joined their table much too soon. He apologized for being late, citing that the traffic was busy this time of year. The glint in his eyes and the wink tossed their way clearly told a different story. 

“Maybe you should fly on a bus next time. I heard that was a faster alternative,” Lena said with a smirk, bringing the champagne up to her lips.

Kara laughed and turned a slight shade of pink in embarrassment. Kal prodded them to tell him what was so funny, and Lena was the one to tell him about his cousin’s horrible coverups. In a couple of minutes, they were all relaxed by the champagne. Or at least Lena was, because she knew it took more than just alcohol to buzz up the Supers. 

They ordered their food and Kal brought out his voice recorder, already bombarding Lena with some questions about L-Corp. Kara piped up in defense to her, but Lena simply smiled, letting Kal continue to barrage her about her company’s intentions.

  
“Your Metropolis division is being supervised by Samantha Arias,” he said sternly, pulling his recorder closer to her, “why is that? What does she have to offer to L-Corp?”

  
“From the moment she started at L-Corp, I’ve noticed her drive for effort,” she said, taking all of his questions in stride. She answered every question he asked automatically, words flying out of her mouth faster than she can catch them in her head. All the while, she stole glances at Kara. Kara’s eyes never left her face. She just stared at Lena, a small smile on her features, so soft and gentle. It almost made her shiver.

  
He stopped once their food arrived. Lena offered to answer more after they ate but he thanked her and told her that it wasn’t necessary. Lena couldn’t express her own gratitude enough. Across from her, Kara looked relieved.

They ate in near silence, sometimes complimenting the food and occasionally piping up about a story they suddenly remembered. Kara and Kal were natural charmers, albeit a little clumsy. It put her at such ease that it completely melted every worry and work-related thing off her mind. 

  
“So, Kara’s told me a lot about you,” Kal began, looking up from his food to give her a half smile. Beside him, Kara seemed to flinch, though she kept shoveling food into her mouth. “How close are you two?”

“Kal,” Kara complained. 

  
“What? I’m just asking,” Kal said with a laugh. He pointed his fork at her. “Can you blame me for wanting to know about my cousin’s friends?”

  
“I’m her best friend,” Lena said boldly. Realizing that Kara had suddenly went quiet, she quickly said, “Or, close friend.”

“Nope. Best friend,” Kara stated, popping the ‘p’. She grinned at her cousin and then at Lena. Then promptly kept shoveling food into her mouth. Lena smiled warmly.

  
“Ah. I see,” Kal said with a low hum. They ate in silence for a moment, before Kal craned his neck to look at his cousin and said, _ “Best friend, huh?” _

Lena stiffened. She gripped her spoon tighter, yet kept drinking her soup as casually as she could. He was speaking Kryptonian.

  
“Kal!” she whispered harshly. She leaned in closer to him and said, in very accusing English, “It’s rude to talk like that when you have a guest.” 

“Kara, it’s fine,” she said genuinely. “I don’t mind it.” Not to mention, they were talking in complete Kryptonian the last time he was here. Her palms began sweating and she wiped them on her lap nervously. Her original plan was to converse with Kara casually to surprise her today, but with Kal in the mix, she aborted that idea and told herself she’ll bring up the fact that she can speak a nearly dead language to Kara another time. Speaking to one Super was fine, but both of them at the same time was a recipe for disaster.

Kara gave her a concerned look, but Kal clapped his cousin on the shoulder and gave her a kind smile. Kara softened under his look. She leaned closer to her cousin and told him, _ “Are you really trying to tease me in front of her?” _

  
_ “Why not? It’s not like she can understand us. You’re just being paranoid,” _ Kal teased. _ “Plus, seeing you flustered around her is really funny to me, cousin.” _

Lena tried not to choke on her champagne. 

  
_ “I’m not flustered! I’m just kindly asking you to shut up before she starts asking us what we’re talking about.” _

_ “Then I’ll tell her we’re talking about the weather. Or something that didn’t involve her.” _Kal’s grin would’ve looked innocent if Lena hadn’t connected the dots that he was teasing her. 

  
Both of the cousins turned to look at her. Feigning innocence and concern, she asked, “What’s wrong? What are you guys talking about?”

“Nothing much!” Kara said quickly. Lena saw her blush spreading on her cheeks. “We’re talking about the weaaaa— really bad weather.”

  
“Really? It’s been really nice out for the last couple of weeks,” Lena pointed out to her. Maybe she was having too much fun with this.

Grinning, Kal took her comment in stride. “About the bad weather in Krypton,” he clarified for her. Lena nodded, eyebrows raised like she was truly involved in this conversation. “I love hearing more about my planet. Kara has been telling me the ups and downs of it since we met.”

  
“Fascinating,” she said, trying to keep the purr out of her tone. Kara was glancing at everything but her. “I’ll let you guys catch up about the weather then. I don’t mind it, I swear. This food is _ amazing; _I don’t really feel like talking with my mouth full.”

  
“Right,” Kara said uncertainly.

_ “I told you,” _ Kal told her. His shit-eating grin was back on his face.

  
_ “Kal!” _When Lena glanced at her, Kara smiled apologetically. “Sorry, he said something about Krypton I didn’t like.” Kal’s eyebrows rose high. Lena just smiled innocently and let her continue.

_ “Can we just drop this for tonight?” _ Kara begged her cousin. She was playing with her food, something that Kara definitely did not do. _ “I don’t want her to feel left out.” _

_ “Of course you don’t. But you know how else you can make her not feel left out?” _ When Kara didn’t say anything back but made a point to shovel more salad into her mouth, he said, _ “Tell her why you’ve been ogling her all night.” _

Lena’s heartbeat quickened in her chest. She forced to slow down and forced herself to sip more of the soup. 

_ “I already did,” _ Kara said in part confusion. _ “She’s really pretty.” _

Kara did, in fact, tell her she was pretty the moment they saw each other. Lena told her she was beautiful right back. It was things friends do. They compliment each other. Their heartbeats get unbearably fast when they’re close to each other and they always have urges to come closer. To— 

_ “And I think Lois is really pretty. _ You _ think Lois is really pretty,” _ Kal mused. _ “But there’s different connotations.” _

Lena was evidently not the only one confused by his words. _ “What do you mean?” _ Kara said hesitantly. She was slowly piling up her food.

  
_ “Well, think about it, Kara. I love Lena. She’s funny and brilliant and pretty. But you _ love _ her.” _ Lena was baffled by his words. Kara was too, who kept quiet and scrunched up her brow in complete confusion. Lena swallowed her soup thickly. He used the word _ ukiem _when he described his love for her— familial love, in literal translation.

Kal used a different word for “love” with Kara._ :Zhao _— romantic love.

_ “Kara, you look at her like she’s everything you need to keep going. Like you don’t need the sun— you just need her.” _

  
_ “Kal, stop it,” _ Kara said tersely, but her face was absolutely flustered. Lena tried not to look at her, knowing that if she did, her face would give it away as well. _ “I already told you that she means a lot to me. She’s my best friend. And she’s really smart. And wonderful. And kind. And…” _Her voice was dreamy. 

  
_ “I know, you’ve told me. Literally a dozen times,” _ Kal said with a laugh. He reached over and took her hand. _ “Cousin, I know you don’t need my blessing to be with her. It’s obvious the two of you would take care of each other and that makes me really happy. I’m so happy for you, Kara. All you need to do is tell her.” _

  
Kara’s demeanor became nervous. She took off her glasses and looked down, fidgeting with them while Kal spoke to her. She wiped off the grime on them and shoved them back on with shaking hands. Her face was rigid and tough, but Lena knew better than to think she was being harsh right now. That was the face she made when she was absolutely terrified but wanted no one to see it.

_ “When I told her I was Supergirl, it nearly destroyed our friendship,” _ she croaked out. Her voice shook, and Lena wondered to herself if she would’ve caught it if she couldn’t speak Kryptonian. Lena kept her head down, silently eating her lobster meat. _ “I almost lost her once, Kal. I can’t go through that again. I can’t make _ her _ go through that.” _

_ “Keeping a secret about being Supergirl and about your feelings are two completely different things,” _ he told her gently. _ “For all you know, she’s scared to the bone about telling you too.” _

_ “She doesn’t like me like that,” _Kara said solemnly. Lena had the urge to snap her head up. She resisted. 

Voicing her thoughts, Kal asked, _ “What makes you so sure?” _

_  
_ _ “Well, for one, I’m out of her league,” _ Kara told him with a dry chuckle. She put some food in her mouth to prevent speaking too soon, and Kal patiently waited for her to finish. _ “Secondly, how could she like me? She’s incredibly smart, Kal. Have you seen the work she’s done? She’s incredible. She does all of these things without breaking a sweat. Whenever she’s concentrated, her eyebrows pull together and her eyes are so steady and they are _ so _ pretty, Kal—” _

  
_ “It just sounds like you’re gushing over her again.” _ Kal laughed. _ “Look, you don’t have to do it right now. I’m just saying that I have a feeling she thinks the same way about you; if not, you can fly all the way to Metropolis to beat me up.” _

  
Kara smirked. _ “Can I really?” _

  
_ “Yes. Hitting me anywhere is fair game.” _ Kal’s charming smile was back on his face. _ “But, I think I’ve had enough heart to heart with you. Tell me about Lena’s work.” _ He held up his fork up to her face when she opened her mouth and he warned, _ “Say anything about her eyes or her ponytail and I’m telling Lena you stared at her ass lately.” _

Lena didn’t know whose face was a brighter shade of red: hers or Kara’s. 

* * *

They finished their dinner an hour later. In that hour, Lena had to test her composure by listening to Kara talk giddily over her life’s work. Occasionally, Kara slipped and began talking about something Lena did. 

_ “Kal, have you ever seen her tie her hair up?” _

_ “Kal, she does this thing where she bites her lip while talking to me and sometimes I do it too because I get so distracted and—” _

_  
_ _ “There was this button on her shirt that was about to pop out because of her— erm. Yeah. Not that I was staring or anything! It just really fried my brain for a second.” _

_  
_ _ “She looks so comfortable in a sweatshirt and I always wanna give her mine just to see it and—” _

Kal walked (flew, as subtle as he could) back to the hotel room near Kara’s apartment. Kara had offered he slept at her place instead, but he didn’t want to intrude. Moreover, as much as Kal wanted, he couldn’t fly back to Metropolis in fear of someone wondering why he had traveled between two cities in such a short time. 

Meanwhile, Kara and Lena settled on walking to Lena’s apartment together. 

Like an idiot, Lena had forgotten to get a jacket. Kara had zipped to her apartment and got her one to put on in ten seconds. 

“I’m really sorry about throwing you under the bus with Kal,” Kara apologized. The crickets had come out to chirp at them, leaving ambient noises that calmed Lena’s nerves. “He wanted to know more about you and your company.”

“You couldn’t do it in English?” she teased.

  
Kara smiled in response. “If I did it in English, all the praise would get to your head,” she reasoned.

“Are you calling me a narcissist now, Kara?”

  
“Wouldn’t blame you. You’re the most perfect person I know.”

  
The region underneath Lena’s eyes burned warmly. “Says the only girl on Earth that can deflect bullets and shoot heat from her eyes.”

Kara hummed at that. Both of them had their hands stuffed in their pockets, causing their elbows to jostle together if they walked too close. Lena’s mind itched to hold onto Kara’s elbow. Maybe to even hold her hand. But her tongue was tied and she couldn’t bring out the words to ask Kara for permission.

“Next time, it’ll just be you and me. Is that okay?” Kara threw her a warm smile. The stones in Lena’s stomach grew, until it started tumbling around her abdomen. “I promise no more cousins.”

“Really? I really wanted to invite my cousin to our next brunch date,” she said jokingly. Kara laughed, smacking into her shoulder with hers. 

  
“I really liked spending time with you, Lena,” Kara admitted. She adjusted her glasses to avoid looking at Lena.

“I did too,” she said softly. “But can I ask you something?”

“Of— of course.” Kara blinked at her. She nearly walked into a pole but averted it at the last second. Lena smiled. “Anything,” she said, casually playing off her near collision.

“What did you tell Kal about me?” She knew, obviously. But she wanted to know what Kara would say. Seeing her stumble on her words was a delight that she couldn’t describe.

  
Kara immediately began stammering. “Oh! I— hmm. You know. Like— like about how incredible you are— your company is! How your company stands for the greatest good and you never falter under any old white guy’s comments, and you— you— ummm…”

  
Lena laughed and held onto Kara’s elbow, almost out of instinct. She realized it too late, but Kara made no move to shrug her off. “You’re an adorable person, Kara,” she said teasingly.

Kara huffed. Her cheeks were becoming warm, and so was Lena’s.

  
Everything about this felt natural to Lena. She was warm, she felt safe, the night air was crisp— she startled herself when she realized she only ever felt like this around Kara. Kara, her best friend, always so caring, so protecting. She expressed her love to Kara before. Told her that Lena Luthor loved Kara Danvers with every fiber of her being. 

And every time she did, Kara Danvers would simply smile warmly at her, and say it back. 

Lena could only wonder how Kara would take those words in Kryptonian. Kryptonians had a stronger understanding of the word “love”, because they could clearly express their gratitude to friends, family, and lovers. There was no confusion, no ambiguous lines.

Lena laid her head on Kara’s shoulder. Kara didn’t stiffen. She let Lena close her eyes and be gently guided in the right directions. An exercise of trust that has been shared between them for years.  
  
Kara’s love was like coming home to an apartment scented in burning cookies. It wasn’t the best romantic allusion, but it was one that always made Lena smile, knowing that Kara had tried so hard, on so many occasions, to do things for her despite being one of the busiest people in National City. 

Lena never found out when her friendly love for Kara turned romantic. It happened so naturally over the course of their friendship that she never questioned it. She never wondered why she suddenly wanted to kiss Kara, why she wanted to spoil her best friend, why she wanted to curl into her arms after a long day at the office. She just did. 

So when they stopped and waited for traffic just a block away from her apartment, Lena craned her neck up to look at Kara. She took a step back away from Kara’s side and coaxed her to drop her elbow, intertwining her fingers with hers. It was warm and callused from everything she had done as Supergirl. It was all undeniably Kara’s.

She swiped her thumb over Kara’s knuckles. Kara only squeezed her hand in return.

Then Lena’s eyes found hers. Ocean blue eyes, darkened by the night sky around them, yet bright against the reflection of the city lights. It held so much love, like Kara was trying to tell her something without opening her mouth. And Kara had looked at her that way for _ so long. _

In a surge, Lena let go of Kara’s hand to cup both sides of her face. Her lips clumsily found Kara’s, and after Kara’s initial shock, she held Lena by her waist. They were both smiling against the kiss, lips moving together and Lena’s heart lodged her throat.

They only let go of each other to breathe. With a satisfied sigh, Lena’s forehead came against Kara’s. Her fingers stroked the sides of Kara’s face gently, her heart beating wildly in her chest. Her lips tingled blissfully, the ghost of Kara’s kiss rocking her world.

“Wow,” Kara said breathlessly.

Lena laughed, giving her lips one last long peck before untangling herself from Kara. Kara, on the other hand, kept her hands steady on Lena’s hips. 

  
“You—” Kara tried to speak again, her voice slightly strained. “Why did you do that?”

“Are you complaining?”

“No! No,” Kara immediately said. Her eyes were wide and she shook her head vigorously. The joy in Lena’s chest bubbled up with laughter. She wanted those lips back so badly. “I was just—” Lena pecked her lips. “—you never did that before.” Lena pecked them again, making their kiss last a touch longer. Lena’s entire body vibrated with excitement. Her arms were tossed carelessly around Kara’s neck.

“What made you—?” Kara started futilely, panting. And then she groaned impatiently, and met Lena’s lips for the next kiss, much to Lena’s delight. They kissed longer this time, sloppier even. Their excitement got the better of them. 

When they let go, Kara’s pupils were blown. Lena didn’t doubt hers were too. Every part of her body were nearly shaking to the core. The pit in her stomach felt like flames. Her lips were swollen and wet with saliva. She knew she looked wild and gross, but Lena couldn’t bring herself to really care.

  
“I really should’ve asked you first,” Lena finally said, her words coming out as breathless puffs.

Kara laughed delightfully, picking her up with ease and twirling her around, causing Lena to squeal at the sudden action. Kara dropped her carefully, kissing the corner of her mouth. Then she laid her head on Lena’s shoulder, the force causing Lena to slightly curve backwards, and Kara said, “I’m just glad you did it.” Her voice was slightly muffled by the jacket Lena wore, borrowed from Kara’s apartment.

Humming, Lena kissed the side of Kara’s face.

_ “I love you,” _ she said, so quietly that she knew that most people wouldn’t have heard it. She was also self-conscious of her pronunciation. Kara stiffened. _ “I love you so much, Kara Zor-El.” _

In a rush, Kara got herself off Lena and stared at her, eyes wide. “You can speak Kryptonian!” she basically shouted. Her face made Lena laugh. Lena nodded her answer, both her hands holding Kara’s in front of them. 

  
Kara was slack-jawed. “You knew everything I said to Kal.”

“I did.” Lena grinned, mirroring Kal’s teasing smile.

  
“And you—” Kara’s voice tightened. She chuckled, looking suddenly nervous. It melted Lena’s heart to no end. _ “You love me.” _ Her last three words were in Kryptonian, spoken softly, tenderly even. It was also used in the context of unconditional love.

_ “I love you,” _ Lena confirmed in Kryptonian. _ “Always.” _

  
Overcome by emotion, Kara’s hands squeezed hers. She was starting to tear up. _ “Lena Luthor, you are too impressive for your own good.” _

Lena laughed at that, her throat closing up from the sudden wave. Kara laughed wetly and threw her arms around Lena’s body, enveloping them in a familiar hug. _ “I love you too,” _ Kara finally murmured close to her ear. It made Lena shiver. _ “But don’t ever do this to me again before Winn has a collection of me crying in the middle of the street.” _

Lena kissed her lips one more time. _ “No promises. There’s a Chinese restaurant across your apartment and I intend on spoiling you with _ potstickers_." _Since there was no Kryptonian word for potstickers, she shifted it into English. It caused Kara to light up like a goofy Christmas tree. 

Kara grinned at her, intertwining their hands together. "_Now _ you’re speaking my language,” she groaned in English.


End file.
